UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________ I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in: It is entitled: This work and its defense approved by: Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ The Architecture of Poetry: The Iranian Embassy in Washington, D.C. A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Architecture, 2007 In the School of Architecture and Interior Design College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning Mercedeh Namei B.S.Arch., University of Cincinnati, 2005 Committee Chair: Jay Chatterjee Committee Members: Aarati Kanekar Vincent Sansalone Abstract 3 An embassy is a symbol of unique cultural, social and political aspects of a specific country. Historically it becomes a place for a country’s representative(s) to communicate in a civilized and acceptable manner. Communications among embassies have traditionally been a great resource for international diplomacy that promotes peace and friendship. An embassy is an office building that specializes in diplomatic relationships and a great representative for one culture. Presenting a culture requires multifaceted revelation of its aspects. In the project Architecture of Poetry was derived from Persian poetry. In order to understand Persian culture and its classical poetry, the methodology includes discussion of Ferdosi’s Shähnmeh (The Epic of Kings). Persian poetry is deeply rooted in its history and culture. It was developed through centuries of repetition and practice. Understanding Persian poetry reveals layers of history, culture and traditions. It requires understanding structure, order and the metaphorical foundation of poetry as well as the reasons behind lyrics, meanings and characters. The Architecture of Poetry leads to a design that explores Shähnmeh’s poetry in addition to known embassy structures where the elements learned from each interweave to create the design of the Iranian embassy. The structure of poetry corresponds with the structure of the building, where metaphorical words have translated into interior details and materials of the façade. Poetry reading is a slow and gradual process, where punctuation becomes important to convey the message of poetry. The translated architectural elements from poetry are not literal; but they are very abstract. Metaphors of culture and poetry are revealed in the structure and details of the new embassy. 4 Acknowledgments To my mother, the oasis of wisdom To my father, the signature of freedom To my brother and sister, the models of talent and strength To Iran, the land of poetry I would like to thank the University of Cincinnati and the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning for the greatest seven years of my life spent to be educated and supported by the best teachers, and having the advantage of being part of this institution. Many thanks to: Jay Chaterjee, for his support and guidance in my vision during the thesis year Aarati Kanekar, for her understanding and concerns about representing a culture Vincent Sansalone, for his inspiration, encouragement and his knowledge on visual art and contemporary architecture I would also like to thank: Gerry Larson, for his unlimited and flowing energy, his support and belief in me from the first day I walked in this college. David Saile, for taking the first steps in choosing a thesis topic. Adrian Parr, for being the guiding light on the topic of embassy and contemporary architecture. Ellen Guerrettaz, for her advice, support, and making the two years of grad school possible by keeping us informed. Nnamdi Elleh, for his inspiration, encouragement and interest in my thesis. Firooz, Susan Namei and Caesar for opening their heart and home to me. John E. Back, for his constructive criticism and long conversations on culture and architecture. Ann Hamilton and Haale Ghafori for educating me in the language of poetry. Persian Student Association, for the inspiration and support of Persian culture. 5 Table of Contents Abstract 3 Acknowledgments 5 Table of Contents 6 Foreword: Poetry of the City 7 Embassy and Poetry 12 Concept of Embassy 13 Diplomacy and Embassy 15 Poetry and Environment 17 Passion and Poetry 21 Poetry of Shähnmeh 22 Methodology 25 Poetic Elements of Architecture 32 Gardens 33 Light and Color in poetry: Projects of James Turrell 37 Line and drawing: Projects of Ann Hamilton 40 Precedent Analysis 42 Dutch Embassy, Germany 43 Finnish Embassy, Washington, D.C. 60 United States Embassy, India 68 Iranian Embassy, China 75 Ali Qapu, Iran 83 Site Analysis 90 Grid and Democracy: Brief history of Washington, D.C 91 Massachusetts Avenue 94 Proposed Site 96 Proposition 98 Program: Space Requirements for embassy 103 6 The Iranian Embassy: Design Documentation 108 Memory of Façade… Path Punctuation of Poetry… Wall Abstraction of Culture… Space Appendix 119 Appendix A: International embassies in the United States 120 Appendix B: Transferred Culture 122 Appendix C: About Shähnmeh 126 References 132 List of Illustrations 133 Bibliography 140 7 Foreword: Poetry of the City 8 Driving through the narrow and congested streets of Tehran is an adventure every day. She can still imagine herself in their red 81 Toyota Camry, a young girl sitting beside her mother, as they explored the city. She enjoyed hearing her say, “We can go to bazaar today!” She knew instantly the day was going to be full of new experiences, and she might earn something out of it by the end of day. Maybe a necklace! What a rush! The warm summer afternoon on the streets of Tehran has a life of its own. She can still remember the smell of the Bazaar’e Tehran and dampness of the air as they would make their way in the Bazaar. They would walk among a stream of pedestrians and shopkeepers through cramped walkways in and among the stores. The pointed arcade and beams of light that fill the darkness through the random skylights seemed like your only guiding light in the deepest corner of the Bazaar and create shadows on the few rough brick walls. The smell of cooked corn and coal would raise and mix with the smell of still air in the Bazaar. The highlight of her adventure was to walk into the Bazaar’e Talaforooshan (jewelry stores). Both sides of this walkway were covered with jewelry stores, gold necklaces and earrings hanging from the stores’ fronts. They were dazzling before the dark background. Her first studio was their car, beside her mother in the red Toyota, and the interactions with the city were the lessons. They would critique any building— old and new, the materials, and the styles. Tehran Fig. 1- Bazaar Tehran, Iran is unique with the Alborz Mountains standing tall at the north side of the 9 city. The capital city represents Iran’s recent history, some events that happened before the revolution—Shah’s Palaces, parks, old neighborhoods, and bazaars—and the other dimension of Tehran after the revolution, building a new identity for a generation that has to experience the city at different stages in life. A contemporary city with skyscrapers, office buildings and boutiques would open over night, while on the other hand narrow streets and old sycamore trees represent the essence of the city. The prominent and active façade of the city is the offspring of a new generation of Iranians. What holds all the fragmented generations together is the culture of being Iranian and having the twenty-five hundred years of history to represent it. Today, one may ask this question: “What is the essence of being Iranian?” For sure one can testify that being Iranian is not a set of religious ideas or images represented in media. The image of a country can be tainted by political representation and ideological egos. Iran is strategically located among many diverse countries. It is located within the first civilized areas of the Middle East and later became a gate between the East and the West—the Silk Road—an inviting move for influencing the religion, arts and languages of Iranian culture. The initial part of this thesis is research and analysis of the most unique and traditional element of Iranian culture which has lead to the enigmatic and Fig. 2- Kamran Diba, Tehran Museum of Contemporary Arts, 1977 fascinating language of Persian poetry—Shähnmeh, the celebrated work of Ferdosi, the Pre-Islamic poet. 10 Poetry in Iran reflects an aspect of the culture that was commemorated by the many, but not many could become elite masters in its domain. It took years of practice, study of previous masters and finding appealing topics to write about. The poets were not only master in creating poetic verses, but also they were masters of language. So, it seems practical that poetry stayed uninfluenced by changes that impacted most other arts. Poetry before the arrival of Islam be an example of the time when Iranian culture was free of confining religious ideas; specifically this poetry conveys interesting Iranian traditions. This project is to excavate some Iranian traditions that are not deluded with the contemporary image of Islamic art, and the translation of those specific poetic characteristics into architectural elements. Rather Fig. 3- Sho’ara (the Poets), Tabriz than taking the existing architectural elements in Iran, which are disrespectful of land and cultural heritage, the poetry can be the bridge that creates a new version of architecture outside its natural setting. The poetry of Ferdosi could be the DNA that has all the genetic information captured in its organization. Without translating words into literal images, the poetic words have a tendency to be translated into poetic architectural elements. For an architect, a well-designed building can be perceived in its poetic elements.